Pensacola, FL – Working on information
developed from Escambia County Sheriff’s Office investigators, the U.S.
Marshals Florida Regional Fugitive Task Force captured Wendell Ray Hurley
who is wanted for the Sunday morning murder of Timothy Thames of Blue Angel
Lane. According to reports, Hurley allegedly broke into the home around 5:30
a.m. and shot Thames, 40, two times with what was believed to be a .380
caliber handgun before fleeing the home. There was reportedly a second
suspect with him whom the sheriff’s office investigators have questioned as
well. Around noon today the Task Force and apprehended Hurley without
incident while he slept in a house located on the 1200 block of Tamara Drive
in Pensacola. Investigators found a .380 caliber handgun in the bed where he
was sleeping but it is unknown whether or not if it is the murder weapon.
The Marshals were assisted by task force officers from Escambia and Santa
Rosa County Sheriff’s Offices, Pensacola Police Department and FDLE as well
as a K9 Unit from Escambia County.

“The Escambia investigators and patrol deputies worked hard and fast to
identify him (Hurley),” said Task Force Coordinator Dominic Guadagnoli.
“They worked even harder to find him and we were glad to help capture him,”
said Guadagnoli.

Hurley’s charges include Homicide, Armed Home Invasion, and Possession of a
Firearm during the Commission of a Felony. Hurley is being held in the
Escambia County Jail without bond.

The 23 year-old Hurley is the Marshals Florida Regional Task Force’s fourth
Homicide arrest within less than a week. The Marshals Task Force Office in
Tallahassee arrested two suspects and one was arrested by Task Force members
in Panama City last Friday.

The Florida Regional Fugitive Task Force in Pensacola is comprised of
officers from the U.S. Marshals Office, Florida Department of Law
Enforcement, Escambia, Okaloosa and Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Offices,
Milton, Pensacola, Ft. Walton Beach and Niceville Police Departments.

Last Year U.S. Marshals Task Forces around the country arrested over 73,000
state and local fugitive felons and more than 109,000 between both state and
federal warrants.